False assumption?
By John Horgan
Sunday, May 20th, 2007 at 6:10 pm in Uncategorized.
With considerable trepidation, our local legislators in Congress, all Democrats, are preparing to consider a sweeping plan to deal with immigration, both legal and illegal, and they (and the rest of us) may be operating under a false assumption. There is an implicit thesis in the complex bill facing Congress. It involves a simple but perhaps very flawed premise: That the estimated 12 million persons who are in the U.S. illegally will want to become U.S. citizens once a fresh and defined path toward that goal has been established. Says who? According to federal statistics published recently, only 37 percent of the then nearly 3 million illegals opted to become citizens after the last amnesty in 1986. So what would induce our leaders to conclude that things have changed 21 years later? It’s unclear. And there’s more. The Department of Homeland Security has indicated that up to 20 percent of all current illegals have criminal records, making them potential candidates for deportation, not citizenship. It is believed that about 8 percent of California’s population is comprised of illegals. There is no such figure for San Mateo County. Most nervous county authorities don’t want to even broach the tender subject. It gives them the political willies. However, a conservative guess might be something on the order of 4 percent. That would translate to roughly 29,000 illegal individuals on the Peninsula. Incidentally, none of those numbers includes the American-born children of illegals. Talk about a hot-button issue. And it’s going to get a whole lot hotter.
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May 25th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
John…very thought provoking column. One quick thought from your favorite blogger. Perhaps fewer immigrants would be crossing the border and those already here would be more encouraged to apply for citizenship if we had a more realistic immigration policy as opposed to a “one size fits all” solution which does not differentiate between those who have been here two weeks and those who have been here for many years. Another matter which needs to be addressed is the enormous eight to ten year backlog of citizenship applications which is bogged down in the stultifying INS bureaucracy. Many complicated issues - and many good hearted people caught in the middle. Peace, from mt
May 25th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
As usual, Michael, your comments are cogent and well-expressed. One of the major worries about the latest wave of cross-border illegal immigration is that so many of these individuals have no real incentive to become U.S. citizens or to assimilate into American culture, as those stats from the 1980s indicate so well. Why bother? Their real interests lie in Mexico or other Latin American nations. Hence the billions of dollars returned to their mother countries. These folks come here to earn money, not to become citizens. Here in California we are seeing the growing impact of this phenomenon on a daily basis. Whether it’s in our public schools, our hospitals and medical clinics or our courts, the massive influx of illegals (and their children) has become an incredible burden on the taxpayers who foot the bills for social and police services. It’s one thing to be charitable and understanding regarding the plight of the foreign poor, sick and uneducated. It’s quite another to turn a blind eye to what’s occurring in the greater U.S. society, no matter what certain facile politicians and religious leaders with a clear conflict of interest might say.
May 25th, 2007 at 7:44 pm
most days it feels like at least 29,000 illegal aliens live next door, much less on the whole peninsula.
in my little neighborhood I am sure at least 50% of the population are illegal aliens, mostly from Mexico.
the lastest estimate of this amnesty in the senate is around 3 trillion dollars we taxpayers must come up with to pay for the shortfall that our legislators are trying to wish off on us.
makes me think another boston tea party is way, way overdue
May 26th, 2007 at 7:05 am
Here on the Peninsula and in California generally, it would not be hyperbole to state that, if you really look at all this carefully, the cultural and demographic shift has been profound. As just one example, there are more Hispanic children in San Mateo County public schools than any other ethnic group. And the influx of illegals has been a key factor. Even if all illegal immigration were to halt today, the results have been _ and will be _ staggering for society. The dollar cost alone cannot be underestimated.